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The times when Rahul Gandhi was absent when his party needed him most

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A big opposition meeting is scheduled over the Presidential elections but Vice President of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi will give it a miss. Rahul Gandhi is in Italy to meet his grandmother and spend time with family and will once again miss a key event. But Wednesday's opposition meeting won't be the first time that Rahul Gandhi was 'missing in action' when his party needed him. Here is a list of events that Rahul Gandhi has missed giving the opposition an opportunity to call him a 'part time politician'.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi

The Congress is going all out to get the support of each opposition party to counter the NDA's Presidential candidate. Wednesday's meeting is crucial in building consensus but Rahul Gandhi who was present for a luncheon hosted by Sonia Gandhi earlier will give Wednesday's meeting a miss. In the past, Rahul Gandhi has missed key meetings as well as bills when he was away on a vacation. The phenomenon is nothing new and 'missing in action' seems to come naturally to Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul missing from key party events

The Congress celebrated its 130th Foundation Day in 2014. Fresh from massive loss of face in the general elections earlier that year, Rahul Gandhi, being the vice president of the party, was nowhere to be seen. Sonia Gandhi unfurled the Congress' flag at 24 Akbar Road in the presence of senior leaders like former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni and Sheila Dikshit but Rahul's was absent. Neither Rahul nor the party offered any explanation on why Rahul Gandhi gave the event a miss.

Manmohan Singh's farewell dinner in May 2014 was Congress' way of honouring a man who was at the helm of UPA government for 10 years. While Sonia Gandhi hosted the dinner. Rahul was a no show. Party leaders attempted to salvage the situation and claimed that he was away on personal work. While almost all of the party's ministers and members of the Congress Working Committee attended the dinner, Rahul Gandhi was away. Congress leaders maintained that he was 'out of town on personal work'. Some leaders claimed that Rahul Gandhi had taken a 'short break' after three months of rigorous campaigning for the elections.

Missing in action even in parliament

In 2015, Rahul Gandhi took a vacation between February and April. The long leave led to the Congress leader missing his very first chance of attacking the Narendra Modi government in its first budget session. The 56-day vacation came to an end on the eve of the second leg of the budget session. During his sabbatical, Rahul Gandhi missed the first half of the session as well as the carefully crafted protest against Land acquisition bill that his party was leading.

The party including his mother Sonia Gandhi maintained that he wanted to go away for a few weeks to introspect. They party was tight-lipped about where Rahul was and why he missed the parliament session. During the same year, Rahul Gandhi became unavailable for his party for the Bihar elections in September.

Oppostion's 'part-time politician' jibe

Time and again, opposition parties have referred to Rahul Gandhi as a 'part-time politician'. Soon after the 2014 general elections drubbing, Congress was careful not to allow criticisms come Rahul Gandhi's way. The party and its spokespersons defended the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family time and again. His absence from key events was looked at as a means to keep him away from media glare immediately after the loss in 2014 polls. But many other times, it has been Rahul Gandhi's vacations that have kept him away from key events.

Congress leaders like Randeep Surjewala have time and again reiterated that he had a personal life and deserves to take a break. While vacations of Rahul Gandhi always land him in controversies, his constant absence during key meetings and events has also not gone down well with party members as well.

OneIndia News

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